A VPN provides a secured network connection on the internet for connecting to a private network through a public network for transmitting and receiving data. The private network could be any network like an organization’s internal network, Bank websites and Government agency portals. A VPN protects your online browsing activities and keeps your identity anonymous as it encrypts the transmitted data and then re-routes it from its own remote servers. Thus, it helps you to access restricted websites from any location without the information getting intercepted and keeping your network location completely hidden.
VPN is designed in such a way that it acts as a secure and encrypted tunnel for transmitting data. The information gets transmitted through encrypted tunnel and nobody else can intercept or read the information in between. Also, the encryption mechanism makes sure that only the authorized user is able to access the transmitted information over the network. A VPN comes handy when you are accessing internet through public Wi-Fi hotspots as the wireless connection is not secure enough and can lead to information being compromised over the internet. Also, VPN would help you to access blocked websites over public Wi-Fi connection and prevent data theft.
HideMyAss VPN is a go to ready tool for anyone who wants to surf the web freely, privately, securely and with no restrictions. It brings you an important privacy tool which has high grade encryption as that of banks, business and government organizations. It has a wide global network coverage having 935 VPN servers which are located in 352 locations across 221 countries. It gives access to more than 120000 IP addresses.
Features
- HideMyAssVPN supports all major encryption protocols which can be used for connecting to their accounts namely PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and OpenVPN. All of them have got different features.
- PPTP is the most common VPN protocol for Windows which provides a 128 bit basic encryption and is supported by large number of devices. It provides high speed connection and the setup/configuration is pretty easy. Due to low level encryption, it is less secure and sometimes have unstable connections.
- L2TP/IPSec provides a secure connection having 256 bit key encryption and provides a stable connection on every device, operating system and networks. It can easily bypass restrictions imposed by ISPs or networks. It provides a gradually lower connection speed than other protocols due to high level encryption.
- OpenVPN provides cross platform portability and has a highly secure 256 bit key encryption with OpenSSL authentication. It provides most stable connection across all kinds of network such as wired, mobile or WLAN. It provides very high speed and secure connection having ability to bypass almost all firewalls, ISPs and networks.
- It allows you to connect to your VPN account with 2 simultaneous connections using different devices such as laptop, PC, smartphones, internet enabled TVs and gaming consoles. But while having 2 simultaneous connections, both the devices should be connected to two different servers. You can’t connect both the devices to the same VPN server simultaneously.
- It provides a wide global network coverage having servers in 221 countries covering 352 locations and having a total of 935 servers.
- It lets you to connect to 120000 different IPs using your VPN account.
- It allows unlimited switching of servers for its users. So, you are allowed to switch the server from one to another when you wish to connect to a different server from your account instantly without any restrictions.
- HideMyAss VPN desktop application is available for Windows, Linux and Mac. In addition to desktop application, it also provides mobile app for Android and iOS devices.
- It provides a Customer support service through various methods such as Live Chat, Support Form page and Direct Call facility. By using the live chat option on their website, you can contact to the Customer service representative and get your query resolved within minutes. You just need to provide your Name and email address, choose the relevant topic for your query and type your query in the Message box and submit. You can also use their Customer support page to get your query resolved. Most of the tickets get answered within a response time of 24 hours. You can also call them from 9am-5pm UK time and get your query resolved by talking directly to an expert.
- It doesn’t offer any trial period for using its services. But it does provide a 30 days Money back guarantee which is adequate amount of time to test their services. But, in order to get a full refund of your money, you should not have used more than 10GB of bandwidth and should not have connected to more than 100 sessions.
- It provides a Load balancing feature. If there is more than one server in a particular location it suggests you the one with the least load to have faster response time.
- The Company comes under the jurisdiction of the laws of United Kingdom.
Prices and Plans
HideMyAss VPN offers 3 different plans for its customers as per their needs and requirements.
If you want to use services of HideMyAss on a monthly basis, then there is a fixed plan of $9.99 per month.
The second plan is for six months which is available at $6.66 per month. This will avail you a discount of 42% over the monthly plan.
The third plan is for $4.99 per month for those who wish to use the services of HideMyAss for 1 year. You can save a total of 57% if you chose this long term plan instead of the monthly plan.
We would suggest you to opt for the plan offering 1 Year subscription at $4.99 per month because the services offered in all the 3 plans are exactly the same and there is no such difference in them. Thus, if you would go for the long term plan you don’t have to renew your plan every month and would save your time.
Also, you will get a 30 days money back guarantee during which you can test the services offered by HideMyAss VPN. If you feel that you are not satisfied with the services, you are free to opt out of the subscription within 30 days from the date of purchase of the product by contacting the Customer Support and you would get a 100% refund of your money. Please note that in order to get a full refund of your money, you should not have used more than 10GB of bandwidth and should not have connected to more than 100 sessions during the 30 days money back guarantee period.
Pros
High speed and unlimited bandwidth: It has a fairly high speed to access any website in remote locations and has only a 2% difference in the speed between your normal internet connection and connection through HideMyAss. It provides unlimited bandwidth usage to its customers so that they can watch all the videos they want and browse unlimited websites without worrying about going over the limit. If you are new customer, then the connection wizard helps you in installing it and running it in just a few clicks.
Reliable connection and easily bypass censorship: It supports all major encryption protocols including PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and OpenVPN, which makes it highly secure and reliable when it comes to unblocking the restricted websites and keeping the identity of the user anonymous. If you are facing any government/legal restrictions in accessing any site, say, many countries don’t allow access to all users such as USA and UK, then by using its services you can easily avoid this censorship and access these websites from anywhere in the world.
Load Balancing: If there is more than one server available for accessing a site in a particular location then HideMyAss will automatically suggest you the one having minimum number of users connected to the server which results in faster response time.
Securing your Wi-Fi network and easy access to favorite sites: It secures your Wi-Fi network by encrypting your connection with its highly secure protocols at any location. It helps in avoiding any government/workplace restrictions to access websites from your Wi-Fi network. It also lets you access your favorite websites by changing your IP address to the required locations instantly. Moreover, you can maintain a favorite tab list of locations for easy access and connecting pretty quickly to the network.
Covers 221 countries with 935 servers including China: It offers faster and reliable network connection for accessing restricted and prohibited sites in most parts of the world including China than any other VPN service provider. It is one of the very few VPN providers having reliable worldwide coverage and having servers located in mainland China. So, if you are living outside China and need to access to a Chinese specific services then HideMyAss would be the your choice.
Cons
No free trial and high price: Since there is no free trial offered by HideMyAss for its customers, one needs to spend a minimum of $9.99 for using its services. Also, the price for monthly plan is a little expensive.
Blocked in China: HideMyAss has got great connectivity across the globe but its main website has been blocked in China and most of its servers are also not accessible there which results in preventing access to blocked sites in China.
Logs stored for legal requirements: HideMyAss stores the logs and information in order to keep a track of the browsing activities of its users, which includes downloads and visited sites. If needed, the logs can be handed over to the authorities if they demand them and therefore, there is no 100% anonymity possible.
Terms and Conditions on money back guarantee: During the money back guarantee period of 30 days, 100% money would be refunded only if you have not used more than 10GB bandwidth and not connected to more than 100 sessions during that period.
Recommended Uses
HideMyAss has been rated as a reliable and secure VPN all over the world. It has a huge network of 935 servers in 221 countries covering 352 locations and allows connection through 3 different encryption protocols. Its strong encryption lets you bypass the geographical restrictions and censorship being imposed in several countries of the world excluding China. Since the official website of HideMyAss is blocked in China, therefore it’s difficult to sign up for its services over there. So, HideMyAss should not be your first preference as a VPN in China. However if you want to access to the Chinese area restricted services, Hyde My Ass is one of the few VPN that have servers in Mainland China.
It supports all major devices and has got a dedicated iOS and Android app available for its customers. The customer support is outstanding as they have a well maintained customer support and a FAQ section. You can contact them via live chat, support forum, email and phone call. Although they do not work 24*7, you can expect a comprehensive response within 24 hours.